Single razor cap opening and blade adjusting means for sectional cap type razors



Dec. 27, 1966 K. KUHNL 3,293,744

SINGLE RAZOR CAP OPENING AND BLADE ADJUSTING v MEANS FOR SECTlONAL CAP TYPE RAZORS Filed April 26, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR LEOPOLD K. KUHNL W 19m ATT'YS.

K. KUHNL 3,293,744 SINGLE RAZOR CAP OPENING AND BLADE ADJUSTING Dec. 27, 1966 MEANS FOR SECTlONAL CAP TYPE RAZORS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 26, 1965 L S. m w o Z 1 w i MK 1 m0 W L-Q m & 0 1.5%; L w W M A United States Patent Office 3,293,744 Patented Dec. 27, 1966 ware Filed Apr. 26, 1965, SEE. No. 450,927 1 Claim. (c1. 30-605) This invention relates to safety razors in general and particularly to that class popularly referred to as an adjustable double edge-type. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a new and improved double edge razor design having a single operating knob for opening and closing the cap sections of the razor as well as adjusting the blade angle relative to a guard.

Razors of the adjustable type are not in and of themselves new to the public. In fact, adjustable razors which operate on the principle of shifting the blade relative to the guard to provide a different angle of blade exposure have received notable acceptance in the industry because of the rather remarkable advantages they provide. One of the most commendable aspects of adjustable razors is that they may be manufactured in mass quantity while yet satisfying the shaving requirements of a variety of individuals as may be dictated by the individual differences in their skin and beard. Uniform shaving comfort by all is thus obtained with a single razor design.

Notwithstanding the favorable aspects of adjustable razors in general, they have not been free from certain shortcomings, especially those razors of the double edge design. In known designs one mechanism is provided to perform the opening and closing function while an additional mechanism is provided to obtain the adjustment of the blade edge angle. Obviously, the use of two separate mechanisms to perform each of these functions increases the cost of the razor as well as being more cumbersome as it requires separate hand and finger movements for each function. Other problems and disadvantages of an equally objectionable nature have prevailed prior to the present development.

In its broadest sense, the adjustable razor of the present invention includes a tubular handle assembly having a platform-like guard member joined at one end. A spider assembly mounting the usual pivoting cap sections has the spider stem slidably received in the tubular handle. Suitable means of any known type coacts with the cap sections to tension and grip the razor blade adjacent its marginal edges. Adjustment of the cap sections in their positions to vary the distance between the guard and the marginal edge of the cap section is provided by a unique notched cam arrangement permitting incremental axial adjustment of the spider assembly relative to the handle assembly and hence permitting incremental adjustment of the blade angle.

Such adjustment is accomplished by rotating a cam follower over a notched cam surface causing the spider stem to shift axially with the direction of movement dependent upon the direction of rotation. is also formed in the cam surface to facilitate quick opening of the cap sections as the cam follower is moved beyond the gradual or adjusting rise. Suitable indicia means such as a reference mark is provided topermit instant selection of the preferred angle of blade adjustment in order to readily meet the particular needs of the individual shaver.

The ca m follower or cam may be carried in a knob on the razor handle, and thus serves multiple functions,

that is, with a rotational motion of less than three hundred and sixty degrees the razor can be opened, closed and A sharp rise adjusted as described above to provide a wide variety of blade angles. This permits the user to change blades, adjust and flush the razor with unequaled ease. Additional features of equal importance to those stated above will become apparent when the objects and detailed description are considered.

It is a general object of this invention to provide a new and improved adjustable razor.

It is a more specific object of this invention to provide an adjustable razor of the type described characterized particularly by its single operating means which performs multiple functions.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a new and improved adjustable razor having a novel unitary adjustment and blade release mechanism requiring less than one full rotation between any desired blade angle adjustment and the blade release position.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a new and improved razor design having a novel adjustment including a notched cam which permits incremental adjustment of the blade angle.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide an adjustable razor of uncomplicated design wherein the components forming the razor remain interconnected at all times and including a single operating means to perform the adjustment and opening and closing functions.

Further and fuller objects will become apparent when reference is made to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the razor of the present invention with the cap sections closed and the razor blade omitted;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the razor of FIG. 1 with the cap sections open and the razor blade omitted;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the razor of FIG. 1 with portions of the handle broken away and having the razor blade inserted and the adjustment set on the reference 1;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 with the adjustment set at the fully opened or reference 9 position;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross section taken through the handle assembly;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective of the razor of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view taken through the razor head and illustrating the handle and spider stem fragmentarily; and

FIG. 8 is a planar illustration of the cam sleeve.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the adjustable razor of the present invention is indicated generally by the reference numeral 10 and includes the basic elements as follows: a handle assembly 11; spider assembly 12, including the cap sections 13 and 14; and, an operating mechanism 15. A better appreciation and understanding of the components making up the basic elemnets of the adjustable razor may be had by consideration of the exploded perspective view of FIG. 6.

The spider assembly 12 includes the spider stem 16 attached to the spider 17 with spider arms 18 and 19 disposed at opposite ends. The spider arms 18 and 19 pivotally support the cap sections 13 and 14 for opening and closing movement as the ends engage the guard in a axially extending key 23 formed integrally thereon for purposes to become apparent.

The handle assembly 11 further includes a guard 27 and a platform-type spring indicated gneerally at 28 mounted on the upper end of the handle 20. The platform spring 28 includes blade engaging sections 29 and 30 disposed in substantial parallelism with the marginal edges of the cap sections 13 and 14 and the guard 27. This construction is more completely described in the copending application Serial No. 448,018, filed April 14, 1965. Obviously other known forms of blade supports may be used, however for ease of description the present invention will be described in connection with the type illustrated.

As is best seen in FIG. 6, the adjusting means is composed of three main elements including a cam sleeve 24, cam follower sleeve 25 and a knob or collar 26. A spider biasing spring 31, washer nut 32 and trim cap 33 serve to complete the basic razor assembly. The manner in which the basic parts are assembled and coact will be described hereinafter as well as the more important constructional details.

Referring to FIG. 5, the spider stem 16 is positioned within the cylindrical bore 34 formed in the handle 20, which bore includes a section of reduced diameter 35 formed in the lower section of the handle. The bore of reduced diameter 35 forms at the junction with the enlarged bore 34, a radially extending shoulder 36. A radially extending shoulder 37 is also provided on the spider stem 16 and is in axial opposition to the shoulder 36. When the stem is received in the handle, the spring 31 is bottomed on each of the shoulders 36 and 37 thereby to continuously urge the spider stem 16 axially of the handle in a direction to open the cap sections 13 and 14.

A metal collar 38 is provided at the junction of the handle 20 and guard 27 and is provided with an internal bore having a bearing area for the spider stem 16. The metal collar 38 facilitates rigid attachment of the guard 27 and platform spring 28 to the handle 20 as well as trimming the handle 20 at its upper extremity.

The lower end of the spider stem 16 is threaded as at 39 to receive the washer nut 32 which holds the adjustment knob 26 on the stem 16 and also limits movement of the spider stem 16. The cam follower sleeve is press fitted or secured in any suitable fashion within the knob 26. Spring 31 serves to urge the cam follower surface 40 (also shown in FIG. 6) in engagement with the cam surface indicated generally at 41 on the cam sleeve 24. Relative rotation between the cam sleeve 24 and handle 20 is prevented by the integral key 23 on the handle being received in a suitable key way 42 in the cam sleeve 24.

The cam surface 41 on the cam sleeve 24 contains diverse rises or angles as may be best appreciated by referring to planar layout in FIG. 8. In viewing from left to right, cam 24 includes a stop shoulder 43 which serves to limit the rotation of the cam follower sleeve 25 in one direction. Adjacent the shoulder 43 the cam surface 41 contains a gentle rise 44 defined by a series of step-like formations or notches 45 each of which is increasing in elevation relative to the adjacent notch as it progresses up the rise 44.

After passing the last notch disposed in axial alignment with reference numeral 9, the cam surface 41 merges with a sharp rise as indicated at 46 which terminates in a flat bottom 47, defined on the opposite side by an axially extending shoulder 48. The cam follower may ,conf'orm substantially to the shape of the fiat bottom 47 and the sharp rise 46 in the cam surfaces 41 so that when the follower 40 on the cam follower sleeve 25 engages the wall or the bottom 47 the spring 31 extends the spider stem 16 to move the cap sections to the open position as illustrated in FIG. 2. A razor blade may be inserted or removed at this time in a well known manner.

In operation, a double edge blade of conventional design is inserted as described above, and as the cam follower 40 on the cam follower sleeve 25 is rotated for reception in one of the notches 45, for example, to the notch positioned in axial alignment with the reference number 9 in the cam sleeve 24, the cap sections 14 and 15 assume the position shown in FIG. 4 to give maximum blade clearance. Expressed another way, the angle formed by the intersection of a plane perpendicular to the guard and a plane defined by the edge of the guard 27 and the razor blade edge is at a minimum as represented by the angle A.

Rotation of the knob 2-6 to align a marker 49 and hence the cam follower 40, with the notch in axial alignment with the reference number 1 on the cam sleeve 44, causes the cap sections 13 and 14 to assume the position shown in FIG. 3. In this position the angle formed by the intersection of a plane perpendicular to the guard and a plane defined by the razor blade edge and guard edge is at a maximum as illustrated by the angle B.

As is evident from the foregoing description and the illustration of the developed cam in FIG. 8, the full range of available blade angles requires only slightly more than a turn of the adjusting knob 26. Incremental ad justment intermediate either of the extreme positions shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 may be easily selected by rotating the adjusting knob 26 to bring the marker 49 in axial alignment with any selected reference mark.

A better appreciation of the relationship of the spring platform 28, guard 27 and razor blade during adjustment may be had by reference to the cross sectional view of FIG. 7. A razor blade 50 of conventional double edge design is positioned over the spider 17 and the cap sections 13 and 14 brought to the closed position by rotation of the knob 26 so that the marker 49 is aligned at any position on or between the references 1 or 9. The cap sections 13 and 14 are held in the closed position through the downwardly projecting arms at opposite ends being engaged with the usual slots at the end of the guard, such co-operation being old in the art. In this manner, a downward force is exerted on the marginal edges of the razor blade 50 to adjust the blade angle in a well known manner to meet the needs of the individual.

It is obvious that the principle of the present invention is broad enough to encompass a reversal of parts in order to obtain changes in the blade angle. For example, a guard member may be shifted relative to the bandle and/or cap sections on a razor to selectively change the angle of blade exposure by a cam adjustment of the type described.

From the preceding description it can be appreciated that the embodiment of the present invention illustrated obviates the problems and difficulties experienced with prior art designs. The uncomplicated design lends itself to mass production methods without impairing the high quality of the finished product.

Upon a consideration of the foregoing, it will become obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the invention embodied herein. Therefore, only such limitations should be imposed as are indicated by the spirit and scope of the appended claim.

I claim: I

In a safety razor having a handle means, guard means, a cap means carried on said handle means for opening and closing movement relative to said guard means, and spring means acting on said cap means to afford movement thereof, the improvement which comprises the provision of a single adjustment means forming a part of said handle means to provide for said opening and closing movement of said cap means and to incrementally vary the relative positions of said guard and cap means in the closed position of said cap means, said adjustment means including a ca m follower and a cam means urged into mutual engagement by said spring means, said cam means having a series of notchlike formations disposed at difierent elevations and said cam follower being adapted to be selectively moved along said notch-like formations to permit relative incremental adjustment between said guard and cap means in the closed position of said cap means, said cam means further including a sharp rise to receive said cam follower to 0b- 10 tain said opening and closing movement.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,795,846 6/1957 Wertheimer et a1. 30'-*60.5 5 2,934,821 5/1960 Bailey et al 30-605 3,056,199 10/1962 Muros 3060.5

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

MYRON C. KRUSE, Examiner. 

